Memphis pulls away for 18th straight win

Mar 2, 2007 - 7:23 AM
EL PASO, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas-El Paso hung in for as long as
it could, but in the end Memphis continued its dominance in
Conference USA.

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points as the seventh-ranked
Tigers used a late second-half spurt to extend its undefeated
conference run with a 78-67 victory over the Miners.

Although UTEP pulled to within a point at 59-58 with seven
minutes to play, Memphis (26-3, 15-0 C-USA) went on a 9-0 run
over the next two minutes to open up the game. Douglas-Roberts
had five points during the decisive burst.

UTEP drew within 68-63 with 3:49 remaining on two free throws by
Stefon Jackson. Kevin Henderson, playing in his final home
game for the Miners, misfired on a 3-point attempt with 2:25 to
play that could have closed the gap to two points.

Douglas-Roberts nailed a jumper at 1:57 and Robert Dozier hit a
foul shot 23 ticks later to widen Memphis' margin to 71-63.
UTEP got no closer than seven.

"It was a good game," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "I'm
disappointed that we didn't win. Our guys played hard. It's
not the talent that makes Memphis so good, it's the intensity
that they bring to everything that they do."

Jeremy Hunt scored 19 points for the Tigers.

Jackson scored 19 points for UTEP, which outshot Memphis but
committed 21 turnovers and were outrebounded, 47-33. The Miners
finished at 47 percent (24-of-51), compared to 41 percent
(28-of-68) for the Tigers.

"We shot the ball well, and when we've done that we've been
pretty good this season," Barbee said. "We didn't rebound well,
and we didn't take care of the basketball. They had 17 more
field-goal attempts than us, which is something that we try to
do."

Memphis let UTEP (14-15, 6-9) hang around due to its inability
to hit free throws, finishing just 11-of-25 (44 percent) from
the stripe.

The Tigers will attempt to finish the regular season undefeated
in league play when they travel to Southern Methodist on
Saturday.